5 Best 401k Mutual Funds for 2014

Maximize your long-term investments with these great funds

One thing is clear in the workforce today — having a roster of the best 401k mutual funds you can find is more important than ever.

Corporate pensions continue to disappear as plans run into financial problems or simply are not offered today. Thus, workers have to be even more committed to crafting a winning strategy when it comes to funding their golden years. Maximizing the success of the 401k is a big piece of this puzzle.

Fidelity Investments — the nation’s largest 401k provider — revealed in November that the average balance hit an all-time high of $84,300 at the end of the third quarter. For investors that are “pre-retirees” age 55 or older, balances hit the high-water mark of $255,000 at the end of 2013′s first quarter.

Those figures certainly were helped along by a robust market this year. But if you’re looking for factors that are actually in your control, you need to start early, and you also must make the best of your available choices if you want to retire happily.

Here are five of the best 401k mutual funds that are available in many plans: